


something's gotten hold of my heart

by owilde



Category: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Fix-It, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Short & Sweet, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, both of them are dense as hell, but what else is new, rewriting the ending of x-men apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 14:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9185957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owilde/pseuds/owilde
Summary: "Erik," Charles began, and something in his voice made Erik stop. He turned around, his back towards the elevator. Charles didn't look at him as he continued. "I would never do that – make you do something against your own will. You know that, don't you?""I know," Erik confirmed out loud, and Charles tilted his head up, their eyes meeting. "But sometimes I wish you would."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from a song of the same name by Marc Almond and Gene Pitney.

The silence felt tense, and Erik momentarily closed his eyes. When he opened them, Charles was looking at him with something akin to melancholy.

"You're a psychic, Charles. You can convince me to do anything," Erik said. His hands, stuffed in his pockets, were trembling and he didn't quite know why. Maybe it was the way Charles was looking at him. Maybe it was all the pent up stress. Maybe it was a tick, the unreleased rage boiling inside him, a part of him now, maybe it was a million different things combined–

Maybe it was because he had to go, had to leave _again_ , and Erik was just so goddamn tired of running away. Of running away from _Charles_.

"Erik," Charles began, and something in his voice made Erik stop. He turned around, his back towards the elevator. Charles didn't look at him as he continued. "I would never do that – make you do something against your own will. You know that, don't you?"

Erik blinked. Of course he knew that. Chares would never do that, because Charles was simply inherently so _good_ , and besides, Erik had trusted Charles all these years, hadn't he? Charles had always asked, had always respected Erik's space and Erik's mind. Except that one time, on the night of their first meeting. But it had been so long, since then, and that had been under different circumstances. So much had changed, _they_ had changed. But Erik's trust in Charles was one constant, unwavering and unchanging no matter what they went through.

"I know," Erik confirmed out loud, and Charles tilted his head up, their eyes meeting. "But sometimes I wish you would."

 _I wish you would make me stay_ , he thought, knowing Charles would hear him. And he did – the telepath blinked in surprise.

"Why can't you? Stay, I mean. I've told you this before, Erik, and I'll say it again for as long as I have to. We need you." There was a pause as Charles let the words sink in. " _I_ need you," he added. Charles sounded so inexplicably forlorn, so broken, that Erik felt his heart twist painfully.

"They wouldn't want me here," he said, pointing at the closed training room door. "They wouldn't want a murderer to sleep under the same roof as them."

Erik immediately realized that had been the wrong thing to say as Charles gave a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "Am I not a murderer, myself? I killed my stepfather when I was a child. I would've killed Apocalypse in a heartbeat, too. I tried to. I _wanted_ to." Charles' tone softened as his smile turned into a gentle one. "You're not a bad person, Erik. You've simply made a lot of bad decisions in your life."

"Too many," Erik corrected. "You're letting your optimism blind you, Charles."

"It's not my optimism that's blinding me this time," Charles replied in a curious tone, and Erik frowned.

"What is it, then?"

Charles didn't answer, averting his gaze.

"Charles, why did you say you need me here?" Erik tried, taking a step closer.

"Do you truly not know?" Charles asked, tired and resigned.

And maybe he did. Or at least hoped. But Erik hated playing games like this with Charles. This was nothing like chess; chess was straight-forward, chess was simple, chess was something where Erik didn't have think about what Charles was _feeling_.

"I want you to tell me," Erik settled on saying.

Charles eyed him warily. "You know what I'm talking about. Why do you have to torture me by making me spell it out loud?"

"Torture you?" Erik asked, frowning deeply. " _Torture?_ "

A sigh escaped Charles' lips. He rubbed his eyes, exhausted both mentally and physically. "You know that I—that the reason that I want you to stay is entirely selfish. That it's only because I…"

The sentence drifted off, and Erik swallowed. His heart wasn't racing like he'd expected it to, it wasn't bouncing around his rib cage but instead was calm, like an ocean, heavy and deep.

"I need to hear you say it," Erik pleaded, sounding desperate. He didn't care. "Please. We both know—but it's been years, Charles. Just once, I want to hear you say it."

Charles looked at Erik, sadness etched into each line of his face. The silence stretched on, filling the entire room with its ominous presence. Erik was frozen in place, standing in front of Charles, close enough that if he leaned down their noses would be touching.

Finally, Charles blinked, his eyes flickering to his lap. "I love you," he whispered, and the quiet words felt as loud as if Charles had shouted them from a mountain top, each syllable echoing around the corners of Erik's mind, and heart, and soul, his entire being, filling him with happiness he didn't know he still was capable of.

"And you're a complete fool if you think," Erik said, his voice trembling, "if you think that there has been a time when I didn't love you back, Charles."

Charles looked up at his words, eyes locking with Erik's.

"You…" he said, disbelief seeping from his voice.

"For such a perspective man, you really can be quite foolish," Erik said softly. "How could I not love you?"

"I'm not much," Charles said, bitterly. "I'm a crippled, old man who can't quite let go of anything. There's no reason for you to—"

"There are too many reasons," Erik interrupted. "You're incredible, Charles. And I'd happily spend the rest of my days convincing you of it, if you'll let me."

The final part came off as a question, and Charles' lips turned into a hesitant smile.

"You're serious," he said. "You're—you mean this. You want to stay."

"I do," Erik confirmed. "I still don't think… I won't feel very welcome, not for a while. But one gets used to everything."

"Quite right," Charles said, his hesitant smile turning into a full blown grin.

"Perhaps… things won't be quite so bad."

"Perhaps not."

"But I can stay, then?"

"No one's ever been more welcome in my life, Erik."


End file.
